SVB Wealth LLC Takes $9.10 Million Position in Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES)

SVB Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ares Management Co. (NYSE:ARES) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 51,423 shares of the asset manager’s stock, valued at approximately $9,103,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Ares Management by 67.0% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 162 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ares Management during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ares Management by 53.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 227 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 336 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1,572.7% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 368 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 346 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ares Management

In other Ares Management news, insider Ryan Berry sold 14,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.16, for a total value of $2,586,557.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 233,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,015,834.24. This trade represents a 5.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at $218,523,000. This represents a 6.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,571 shares of company stock worth $39,165,379 over the last three months. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Ares Management from $184.00 to $187.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Ares Management from $146.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $166.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Ares Management from $224.00 to $217.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ares Management from $176.00 to $174.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ares Management currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.17.

Ares Management Stock Performance

Shares of ARES opened at $170.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.25 and a 200 day moving average of $169.35. The company has a market capitalization of $53.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.20, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.18. Ares Management Co. has a 12 month low of $125.23 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ares Management Co. will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $1.12 dividend. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.62%. Ares Management’s payout ratio is currently 183.25%.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.